Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Denzel
Washington may be known as one of America’s most beloved actors, but there’s a
side of Washington many haven’t seen.

Denzel Washington believes in God. And if you meet him in person, you’ll
quickly learn that he’s unashamed to tell you so.

But
Washington doesn’t claim to be a perfect Christian. In fact, he admits that
many of his life’s deepest struggles are what caused him to turn to Jesus Christ.

Denzel
Washington was born on December 28, 1954, in Mount Vernon, New York.
Denzel’s father, Reverend Denzel Hayes Washington, Sr., was a
Pentecostal minister and his mother, Lennis “Lynne” Washington, was a
beautician and beauty parlor owner.

Raised
in a loving Christian home, Denzel Washington says growing up in the fear of
the Lord is something that he values deeply in life.

Denzel shared, “My father, my earthly father, Denzel Washington Sr. was a
pastor for the Church of God in Christ for 60 years. I know he’s smiling in
heaven, seeing his son doing the best I can do today, by the grace of God.”

Today,
he’s one of America’s most beloved actors. But Washington’s life
wasn’t always easy. Denzel severely struggled through school as he
received poor grades and his future looked pretty bleak.

To
make matters worse, shortly after turning 14, his parents divorced and
young Denzel went on to live with his mother. Heartbroken and spiraling out of
control, Denzel started down a dangerous and rebellious path. The young
Washington was constantly getting into fights and staying out on the
streets.

Desperate
to save her son, Denzel’s mother sent him to a private preparatory school,
Oakland Military Academy in New York — a decision that God used to
transform his life forever.

“That decision changed my life,” Washington latersaid, “because I wouldn’t have survived in the
direction I was going. The guys I was hanging out with at the time, my running
buddies, have now done maybe 40 years combined in the penitentiary. They were
nice guys, but the streets got them.”

Unlike
many other actors of our day, Denzel didn’t grow up aspiring to be anything
grande. In fact, Denzel’s challenging childhood led him to believe that he
would never truly amount to anything. Until one day, a woman from church
approached him and gave him a word of encouragement.

Denzelrecalledback
on the day that changed his life forever,”Now mind you I was 20 years old, with
a 1.7-grade point average and had flunked out of school. She said, ‘You are
going to preach,'” shared Washington. “In this 40-year journey, I guess she was
right. Through my work I have spoken to millions of people.”

With
a new-found hope, Den­zel enrolled into Ford­ham University. There, he
played basketball as a guard and studied medicine. However, he
soon realized that he lacked passion to be a doctor.

Rather
than waste time and money, Denzel decided to took a semester off school and
accepted a position as the creative arts director at an overnight summer
camp, Camp Sloane YMCA in Lakeville, Connecticut. As fate would have it,
Denzel’s time there would later prove to change the trajectory of his life
forever.

While working at the summer camp, Denzel directed various
activities– which included organizing skits for the children. And as it
turned out, young Washington had a natural knack for acting.

In his book, Denzelwrote“The
counselors there put on a talent show for the kids. So I put together
these little poems and rhymes and skits for the kids in my cabin, and we stood
up on stage and did our bit. After the show this guy named Miles Joyce came up
to me and said, ‘Man, you ever thought about being an actor?”

Denzel
returned to Fordham with a new-found interest in acting and in
1977, Washington earned his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. Denzel went on
to receive a scholarship to attend graduate school at the American
Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. But it didn’t take long for
Denzel get into acting. After just one year of grad school,
Washington returned to New York City to take a stab
at his professional acting career.

Just
four years after Denzel began acting, Washington made his first
Hollywood appearance in the film Carbon
Copy (1981).Playing the role of Roger Porter, a
long-lost, illegitimate son of a white corporate executive. The film was a
breakout success and is still considered an American classic to this day.

In 1982, Washington shared an Obie Award for his role in
the Off-Broadway Negro Ensemble Company production, A Soldier’s Play. That next year,
Denzel was casted as Dr. Philip Chandler on theNBChospital drama St. Elsewhere.

In
the 1989 historical masterpiece,Glory, Denzel played a former slave who
joined an all-black Civil War regiment. The most powerful scene in the movie
and arguably one of the best scenes in cinema history, was when Washington shed
a single tear while being whipped for being accused of running away.

His
emotional performance left America in awe, and Denzel later went on to win
his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Washington revealed, ”I remember walking around before that
scene, just praying and calling on the spirits of all the slaves, because I
didn’t know how to play it…I went out there with an arrogance. I spit on the
ground. I had this attitude and this strength and it all came out of this
meditation. It wasn’t calculated. It was organic. That whip actually hurt, but
I was like, Don’t let him win.”

Through the 1990s, Denzel continued to rise as one of America’s most beloved
actors. Washington co-starred in big budget productions such asThe Pelican Brief (1993),Philadelphia (1993),Crimson Tide (1995),The Preacher’s Wife (1996)andCourage Under Fire (1996), a role for
which he was paid $10 million.

Denzel’s work
in critically-acclaimed films continued simultaneously, with roles inMalcolm X (1992)andThe Hurricane (1999)garnering
him Oscar nominations for Best Actor, before finally being awarded the prize
in 2002 for his lead role inTraining Day
(2001).

The
2000s was also a very successful decade for Washington. Denzel starred in his
largest-grossing film to date, Remember The TitansandAmericans fell in love all over
again with his unique ability to unite the nation and abolish the
horrific lines of racism. Washington went on to win the
Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Dramatic Movie.

Denzel also
made history in 2001 by winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in
the film, Training Day. Here he
played Detective Alonzo Harris, a rogue Los Angeles cop with questionable
law-enforcement tactics. With his powerful performance, he became the
second African-American performer to win an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Washingtonshared, ”I was never asked to play the
heavy…I guess they thought I was the noble, nice guy.”

As
it’sbeen said before,
Washington paved the way for African American actors by proving he could carry
a film likeTraining Day,
in which the main character’s race is a tangential factor at most, and win a
Best Actor Oscar in the process, the first being Sidney Poitier who also
received an Honorary Academy Award that night.

But success in Hollywood wasn’t the only gift that acting gave Denzel.
In June of 1983, Washington married the love of his life, Pauletta
Pearson.

And
despite being celebrities, Denzel and Paulette have beat the odds and stayed
together for over 33 years. The couple renewed their vows in 1995, and
their steadfast love is a refreshing sight to behold — especially in Hollywood
these days.

“We live in a time — and it’s not for me to judge anyone — when
people give up too easy,” Denzelrecently shared, exhibiting the same persistent
spirit that prompted him to ask Pauletta to marry him three times before she
finally accepted his proposal.

The
lovebirds first met on the set of the television filmWilmaand after tying the
knot, went on to have four children together — 32-year-old son John,
29-year-old daughter Katia and 15-year-old twins Olivia and Malcolm.

When asked for some marriage advice, Denzelreplied, “Oh – if you’re a guy – two phrases.
One is ‘yes, dear’ and the other is ‘honey, you’re right.'”

On a more serious note, Denzelcontinued, “You have to work at it. Not give up on
each other. It’s a commitment. Be patient. Be good friends first. And stick
together. You gotta work at it. I’ve been married 33 years. It’s not all a
honeymoon, it’s not all flowers and roses, but if you’re friends and partners
and committed, you’ll be okay. And everybody’s got advice for you – don’t
listen.”

But
not only is Denzel a devoted husband and family man, but he also considers his
Faith the most important aspect of his life. And recently, the world-renown
actor has sounded more like a pastor when he takes the podium.

Denzelshared, “In 2015, I said I’m no longer just
going to speak through my work. I’m going to make a conscious effort to get up
and speak about what God has done for me.”

Denzel
is unashamed of his faith in Jesus Christ, and also credits his
success to the faithful prayers of his mother.

Washington revealed, “I remember saying to my mother at a
time when I was feeling myself, ‘Ma did you ever think that I was going to
become this…’ She said ‘boy, do you know all the people who have been praying
for your behind… all the prayer cloths, and prayer meetings…’ And she made me
clean the windows.”

As
the son of a Pentecostal preacher who pastored for 60 years, Denzel Washington has
maintained his Christian faith throughout his successful career and
takes every opportunity to share it.

“There’s never been a time where God didn’t direct, protect, and
correct me,” Washington passionatelytestified. “There may have been times where I
was less than faithful to Him, but He had faith in me.” And when asked about
his thoughts on the Bible, Denzel replied, “I read from the Bible every
day, I read my Daily Word.”

At a commencement speech earlier this year, Denzel passionately
encouraged graduates to dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ.

The world-renown actor shared,“Number
one, put God first in everything you do. Everything that you think you see in
me and everything you think I’ve accomplished and everything you think I have…
everything I have is by the grace of God, understand that. It’s a gift.”

Washington continued,“Give
thanks for blessings every day. Every day. Embrace gratitude. Encourage others.
It is impossible to be grateful and hateful at the same time.”

The actor urged the graduates to devote themselves to a
lifestyle of prayer saying, “I pray that you put your slippers way under
your bed at night, so that when you wake in the morning you have to start on
your knees to find them. And while you’re down there, say ‘thank you.’ Ask for
wisdom. Ask for understanding,” he said. “Don’t aspire to make a living, aspire
to make a difference.”

Watch Denzel Washington’s powerful
message as he shares about his Faith in Jesus Christ: